Cattle farming. Most hate it and look down on it. If you aren't someone that hates it, you're either someone that advocated for it or one of the people that have a pre-decided idea of what it's like. The animals aren't loved. They're mistreated and underfed. Some people even believe that they are pumped full of antibiotics. All of these preconceived ideas are because of videos that get posted on social media and rumors from anti-slaughter groups.
First and foremost... y'all aren't “served" beef with any kind of antibiotics “in the meat." I used the quotation marks because that's very literally the only way I can explain it. I'm not trying to cover anything up or discuss anything of hidden value.
When cattle HAVE to have some kind of treatment that involves antibiotics, they go through a wean period. This means that they cannot be sent off to slaughter until the antibiotics are completely and entirely out of their system.
Next, antibiotics are expensive. Cattle farmers don't just have extra couch change laying around to give hundreds of cattle antibiotics. This is something that is done on rare occasions.
While I'm speaking on that, I should also mention that cattle farmers aren't out here making six figures. They do this on their time. Being a cattle farmer means owning your own business, but purely because of passion. There's nothing in it for them except for the love of the animals.
To the people that say cattle farmers under-feed their animals... these suckers are fed a three-course meal several times a day. In all seriousness, I wish I could eat as good as a majority of the cattle I've seen.
Most, if not all, cattle farmers have “farmhands." These farmhands are paid to take care of the animals inside and outside of their normal feeding and watering periods. Aside from these farmhands caring for the animals for as long as most people work their 9-5, they put personal time and energy into these creatures. They fall in love with these animals.
On more than one occasion, I've seen a farmer and their child/wife/farm hand spend hours inside of a well-insulated and heated or cooled barn to deliver a calf. I've seen farm hands fall asleep with newly born calves in their arms. I've stood by a farmer's side after they stood by their momma cows side for 15 hours of labor.
The next time you shame a farmer, think about what they go through. On the days that your employer cancels work because the roads are covered in 10 inches of snow, that farmer is trying to figure out how he or she is going to get water to the cattle. When it's 100+ degrees outside, that farmer is watering his cattle numerous times a day and purchasing top dollar fans to make sure they stay cool. When that farmer loses a cow due to old age or any other cause, they can't catch a lick of sleep because of it.
Instead of shaming a farmer, thank a farmer for the passion that they have— it's nothing near anything you've ever experienced.
